We Are The Goon Squad

      Ok, another late start today, but that was to match last weeks start for my week off social media. I have to say it did it's intended job. Although I'm way behind on current events (which I don't really mind), I have a peace and tranquility over me that only comes from avoiding social media for a certain length of time. Oh, I must tell you what happens when you take a break from social media, because it is rather fun in a disturbing way. Since I don't have Facebook on my phone, they can't send push notifications, so the company that stopped sending emails updates, sent email updates, in a clingy overly needy date sort of way. I get "hey this person posted this" or, "so and so would make a great new friend", it's rather pitiful if you ask me. That's Facebook though, and since Instagram is a Facebook owned property and I do have it on my phone, I get dozens of push notifications other than the ones I have chosen to get. Twitter isn't much different even to the effect of sending me notifications of people I have no idea who they are. Anyway, I went on Twitter and Instagram this morning so the majority of those notifications will stop. I'll hit Facebook after I post this to see if it was successfully shared on there, to end that trainwreck.

     This week was, well, I can't really give it an adjective cause I'm sort of numb. This is something that has come with caring for my mom. My family member that was coming to visit made it, and thankfully they didn't have Covid, only a nasty cold. They of course had a mental moment when they got her and realized that it wasn't quite what they thought it would be like. I haven't had that moment since I can't afford to. I'm saving my emotions for when this is all over, and because of that I have become pretty numb to the whole thing and possibly to those around me. It has really felt like a strange dynamic for me personally. That all being said, I am very appreciative for the brief help I had, this week it was needed since it was kind of a transition week. My mom can no longer stand on her own or even really with the aid of someone else. She is very much bedridden at this point and her decline has accelerated. The end is coming quick, but not as quick as maybe the nurse thought when she saw her on last Monday. That day was one of the worst for my mom, but she bounced back well when she went to the hospital bed full time. I was letting her go back to her bed at night. That was her sort of safe space, but it was causing issues with her breathing, so it had to stop. She is in good spirits today, but I haven't changed her yet, so that could change when the cold air hits her, which will be as soon as I'm done with this. By the way, it is 34 degrees in Florida today. Don't worry, the heater is cranking.

     Ok, I got a picture of that breaded chicken that is only slightly healthier than your run of the mill chicken tenders.

     I can't believe I couldn't remember Caulipower. I have my issues with Caulipower products, but this one is tasty. They use rice flour far more than the cauliflower which is why I can't eat this when I'm eating truly clean, they also have soluble corn fiber as well, don't get me started. With that being said, they are real tasty and the spice level is decent. The packaging says they use paprika as the only pepper, but there has to be something else, cause paprika isn't that hot, not saying that these are very hot, but like I said a solid jalapeño heat level for these.

      I have one other picture to share with you. As you know I wake up super early in the morning to go and spin my pokestops, and that usually Morty goes with me, with the exception of the rare day when Ri Ri is awake and she goes. Well this day was one of those rare days, and those goofballs decided that they both had to be in the front seat, which I'm pretty sure they both regretted as soon as they did it, but stuck with it for almost the whole ride. Morty was the one that finally gave in and hopped in the back with about 5 minutes to go on the ride.

     It was funny watching them jockey for positions of comfort. I think they learned their lesson, cause this morning was the first morning they were both on the ride since then and Ri Ri stayed in the back where she usually is. She likes having the run of the back seat to go back and forth and bark at cars, which is very annoying.

      I have a video to edit from last week and some pictures to add to the TPR blog, so things are coming together, I still have to find time some how to film two more episodes as well as a little mid season special (which will be the easy part). The mid season special can be filmed at the house. We also have a season finale special to film, but I think I'm going to have to leave that to Guy to do. That will be our usual interviewing of a few owners. Which reminds me, I need to write up a list of questions, because Guy wants to talk cost and increases in cost and stuff like that is not only boring but can open up political discussions and I don't want that on the channel. We are about pizza not politics, so I will do everything I can to keep us apolitical.

     One of the things I got to do while my family member was here, was make a visit to the record store, and it was apparently David Bowie day, cause I found some Bowie records that I didn't have but wanted and I grabbed a couple of them up, so Favorite Song of the Week is coming from Bowie, and since I'm currently spinning Scary Monsters on the record player, I'm choosing a song from that album. Yes it will be the big hit from the album, but it's still a banger. So I give you David Bowie with his song "Fashion".

    I hope you all danced to that one. I wanted to, but I was writing and couldn't so I'm living vicariously though you right now as long as you are dancing, if you aren't then fooey on you. I guess I'll tell you the other album I picked up. It was The Man Whole Sold the World. With those two out of the way, and they are reissues, I just want playable copies at this point, I'm going to focus on Heroes and Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I think when I have those two I'll be happy and any other vinyl will just be icing. I mean of course I want Station to Station and Blackstar, but those just aren't essential to me right now, plus I have digital copies so I can listen whenever I want.

     Oh, since I took my social media break, there was no Friday Night Vinyl this week, so expect something pretty cool for this coming Friday. I have a lot of records to chose from and some epic looking vinyl that I haven't shared yet. There are a few I've been saving so a return to posting might be a good time for one of them to make an appearance. Until then peace in and goodnight.

Coffffeeeeeeee

      Getting a little bit of a late start today. I don't have any pictures for you today, since it's been a pretty uneventful week. I was thinking this week that I haven't done my yearly social media blackout in well over a year, so I might just do it starting this week. Since things are going kind of well for a change on that front, I might just limit it to a week, which means that after I log off of this, I'll shut everything down and make it back just in time to write next weeks post. I think that's what I'll do.

      Oh, I have a new favorite coffee drink. We have this place here, that is a chain, but I'm not sure how nationwide it is, but it's called Scooter's. It's a little drive up stand and they have coffee and other related drinks with a few eats to grub on. Their bacon burrito isn't all that great, but it satisfied my hunger for the time being, but anyway back to the coffee. Ok, I tried a few incarnations of this drink until I think I have it perfected for me. I get a large caramel latte with whole milk then add a double shot of espresso to it. I've only done it iced, which is a whole weird thing but I like it, and so far that is my jam. Out of the 3 big chains for coffee around here, Scooter's is my favorite with Dunkin close behind and Starbuck's taking a distant third. I forgot to mention that I've taken a little longer break from the clean eating, to satisfy getting some more videos done on The Pepperoni Report. I'm still eating relatively clean, but I'm doing a lot more intermittent fasting in place of staying in ketosis. It's been working out well, but I do prefer the way I feel when I'm eating fully clean. I'll get back to that soon. I have a few more videos to try and get in before we are done for this season. 

      Speaking of TPR, I have a premier date. Our first video of season 3 (5 years in the making) will be March 17th at noon New York time. I can tell you that they aren't quite the same, but they have the same feel. After editing the first two videos, I've seen a couple of things we need to fix, one of which is me taking to the camera and not the playback. I've noticed that when I point to the camera, I'm pointing to that. Just to let you know the set up. We have the camera mounted just below the review mirror, and right along side of that, I have my phone mounted that is providing a live playback of the video, and I'm looking at that to check quality. It's basically a photographer habit that I broke before, but fell right back in, on these first two videos, so when you see them check out the idiot looking somewhere that's not the camera. That would be me, the idiot. I also think we need to limit ourselves. This is also something that we broke before, but not doing this for 2 years, we have a little rust to knock off. That all being said, I think the videos will be enjoyable for what they are, and how they are quite a bit different from what we were doing.

     I'll have to get a picture for next week, but I found these, somewhat keto friendly chicken tenders. They use a rice flour/cauliflower blend, the rice flour is the issue, but not overly horrible. I got the spicy(ish) ones, and they were pretty good. I forgot to check what pepper they used, but I would put it at a mild jalapeño level of heat. You could taste the difference in the breading, but it was still pleasant to the pallet, and considering there really aren't many options out there for breading on keto, it is what it is. These will be more of a treat for me, and mostly when I'm not doing my clean eating program. The rice is a big no no for me when I'm eating clean, but for anyone that want's a somewhat healthier option than the standard chicken tenders, there it is. Sorry, I don't remember the brand or anything, just that they said they had standard and spicy(ish). Like I said, I'll get a picture for you next week, which will have all the info on it. I can tell you they were in an odd place of the frozen food section. My store has one area that is for the beyond meat and vegan choices of meat substitutes, but they also have keto and paleo items there as well. I know where to find that stuff there, but it's very confusing to mix all those different dietary styles together like that.

     I guess since I really can't think of anything else to write, it's time for Favorite Song of the Week. This is one that has popped up on my mix while in the car several times this week, and my opinion, is that it's one of the saddest songs ever written. I'm just going to dive into it. the song is "The Show Must Go On" by Queen. It seems like it has a positive spin to it, but when you remember that it was written by Brian May for Freddie and it was dealing with the fact that Freddie was dying, and that it was one of the last songs he ever recorded, and that it was when his health was so bad the they really didn't think he could actually sing it, it's freaking sad. Now the other part of the story. When they were getting ready to record it, Brian told Freddie he wasn't sure about it, because it's not an easy song, and Freddie, just said I'll do it, and downed some vodka. He used more colorful language, but you get the point. I proudly give to you Queen with "The Show Must Go On".

     I think I will delve into a whole bunch of Queen this week. Sadly I have none on vinyl, but digital will suffice. Peace in and goodnight.

It Often Goes Sideways

      Writing a little late today because I fell back to sleep around 6 in the morning. I'm patiently waiting around for Community Day which is a Pokemon GO thing where a certain Pokemon is abundantly available for a certain number of hours. The shiny rates go up as well, so you get a much better chance of getting one. It's almost 9 now, so I have 2 hours to go. I haven't caught a wild Pokemon since around 4 this morning.

     I promised you some fun pictures and I have them. The first one is of Ri Ri who when I come home from grocery shopping, mugs me at the door and has to put her head in each and every bag. That kind of backfired this time and while I was unloading the bags I noticed that she had snuck her head through the handle of one of the bags. Right after taking this picture she decided it was time to wander off, and dragged the bag full of it's contents between her legs making her walk funny. Sadly, I did not get a picture of that. Notice the guilty looking face.

     The next couple are of Morty, the first is how he hangs out in the car. This was when I stopped to battle a Grunt in Pokemon and he was patiently waiting looking for a random neighborhood cat.

     This next one is his sexy pose on the couch. Please excuse the disaster that is the couch. The dogs have long since taken it over and I can not for the life of me get it clean again. I would throw it out, but I don't want to change things to drastically for fear of confusing my mom with new surroundings, so it is what it is.

     He has a few other poses that he gets into, but I didn't catch him this week. I'll keep on the ready and try to bring you more pictures when the opportunity arises.

    Last two from me are of Saki. It felt so good to get out and ride again, and I simply forgot just how rocket fast that bike is. I kept within a moderate range and didn't try to push any limits, but when I first got out on the road, I just grabbed a handful of throttle and was going 80 before I knew what hit me. I really did miss that much more than I thought I did. I haven't plugged it back into the trickle charger yet, cause I'm hoping to get more ride time soon, but we will see. In the meantime, here is Saki in all it's glory.

     The one thing I did do was run all the fuel as low as I could before filling up, to get that stale fuel out of the lines. I was shocked that year old fuel still ran pretty good, but when it got that fresh gas in there, it let me know by giving me a bit of a power boost. I could feel it when I throttle up.

     I didn't get that date I was hoping for, in essence she has ghosted me, but I did get to film two episodes of The Pepperoni Report. I still have to edit the videos but the will be ready to go when we finally start our third season, which is now in year 5 of it's existence. We took a understandable hiatus. I have figured out a safe way of doing it in the middle of a pandemic. It's going to look quite a bit different, but it will still involve eating pizza and talking about it. I'm thinking I'm going to set a launch date for season 3 some time in March. We are hoping for 6 episodes of reviews with 2 (what we hope will be fun) specials, a mid season and season finale special. We know what the specials will be but the finale needs some planning so it will be the last thing we film.

     I know what you are wondering, how was my mom's stay at the Hospice House. The short answer is that it went well. There wasn't really much of a change in her from staying there for 5 days. Her mobility seems to be the only thing that took a hit, and she just wants to stay in bed at all times. I can still get her to walk from her bed to the bathroom and back, but any more than that doesn't seem possible. The fact that there was only that small bit of change opened my eyes a bit. Since I have no idea what I'm doing, I always thing I'm doing everything wrong, and with this visit and nothing changing, especially the fact that she didn't eat any more than what she was eating with me, lets me know that I'm doing ok. I was really hoping that they could get her eating more, but with dementia one of the things that goes and is very frustrating for me, is the appetite. She eats and drinks very little. I don't push it anymore cause that can cause her stress, so I give her what she will take and when she signals that she is done, that's it. I stop for an hour or so and then try a little more. I feel very luck if I can get 2 small shakes a few berries and a few glasses of water in her each day. I understand that the body can survive on very little food, but that is even less than what I think of as very little. The nurses have told me that it will keep decreasing as the dementia takes more and more hold on her. I have added gatorade and some punch for electrolytes and just simple calories. It has been working a little better than when I was trying to get solid foods in her. I can't always get her to eat berries. There are just days when all she will do is drink and even those days are a struggle cause she will just stop dead in the water and refuse to drink anything.

     It's time for Favorite Song of the Week, and I'm going back to Halsey. I told you I loved that new album and I'm going to bring you a song that wasn't on the original version of the album, but she has just released and extended version. I did get this track as a download from the Target exclusive album, so I heard it long before she did this extended version. She has also released a Love and Power EP, so I highly suggest listening to all of those. The EP includes some older songs of hers reimagined. Anyway, her is Halsey with that previously exclusive extra track "People Disappear".

     Like all of the songs on If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, you can hear the Nine Inch Nails influence. I'm telling you this is a great album and really it should be an essential album in your collection. What are you waiting for go download this album already.

     I was supposed to get a bit of a break again when a family member comes in about a week or so, but they have now fallen ill. It could be a cold or it could be Covid. We won't be sure until they get tested later this week. If it's Covid the trip is out. Even though this was a little break for me, it's more of an opportunity for them to say their goodbyes. This will more than likely be the last time they see my mom alive, and that could all be in jeopardy simply because people refuse to do the simples of things to end this pandemic. I'm not getting on a soapbox to get you to get the vaccine, I've already done that. What this is is, if you haven't gotten the vaccine, stay away from people. I really wanted to swear there, but since I didn't put a disclaimer up above, I'm going to keep it clean, but you truly need to understand my rage about this. I've been trying to get this person here for over a year now and this was finally the time they could come and it might not happen now, because someone couldn't give up there chance to go out and get everyone they came in contact sick because people only seem to care about themselves now. Now my family member is boosted so I'm not worrying about anything really bad happening to them, but there's still the fact that it didn't have to happen. I'm going to end this here before I start ranting, because trust me I want to. Peace in and goodnight.

Very Unusual

      It's been a very strange week. I started out this week with an insane amount of luck in Pokemon GO. I've told you that I do the raids, well when I get a raid invite and I see it, I feel compelled to join that raid because I'm helping that person out. The benefit to me is I get a chance at catching a legendary or slightly rare Pokemon. Well this day really paid out for me. The first raid I did was, well all of them were this legendary known as Kyurem. It looks like a strange dragon with plugs for wings, I'll show you pictures in just a bit. Well the first raid I did was only a 2 star. I knew right away because of the CP when it appeared on the catch screen. As soon as I was done catching that one a new raid invite came in, this one was  a good one, but with hindsight it wasn't even the best one. The catch screen opened up and there it was, a shiny.

     The normal one is mostly silver and blue. I'll show you one of those in a bit as well. I got done catching that one and another raid invite had come in. I didn't have much time to prepare for this one cause the clock only had about 20 seconds left on it, and I still had to revive my fighters. This one was another shiny, back to back shinies, but this one unlike that one right up there was a 3 star.

     I was blown away. It is very hard to get a shiny in a legendary raid and to get them back to back is almost impossible, but I somehow did it. I figured I was done but another raid invite was coming in. I joined in, but the person couldn't get enough people to win the raid, so I thought, that's it, my luck was insane and I'll take the win. Then that friend sent another raid invite and they managed to get just enough people in the raid. I figured at this point I was just doing it to help them get a chance at a shiny, but boy was I surprised when the catch screen opened up. I knew right away when I saw the CP that it was a hundo. I jokingly said to myself as it was opening, that I'll just take the hundo, and there it was. See, I have these sites that I go to that will tell you the hundo CP for both normal and weather boosted conditions, this was the CP for the normal conditions 2042.  Here is that picture of the normal yet not so normal Kyurem.

 

     After that I really did just turn off the game. I couldn't top that at all. You can see in the screen shots, that this all occurred within 12 minutes. Those were in fact the last shinies I've gotten, and I'm sure I won't get one for another week, since I used all of my luck up on that string of 3 raids.

     This all prompted me to try my luck elsewhere, so I asked someone out for a coffee or dinner date. i figured since I was going to be free while my mom went to the Hospice House, maybe I could have some interaction with someone other than, that will be such and such price and have a nice day. Well, I got over the first hurdle by asking her out, then I seemingly overcame the next hurdle by her saying, "Sure". I clearly read too much into that "Sure". I didn't take it for the less than enthusiastic response that I believed it to be. I messaged her back the days I would be free, and it's been crickets ever since. I am tempting fate one last time as of this morning when I messaged again saying that my plans for today had been cancelled so I was free today, but I'm expecting more crickets. I know she has seen the message, because Instagram has read receipts. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, that someone would want to spend a little time with me. I was all caught up in the moment of that lucky streak. Lesson learned I guess. There is some really unusual stuff going on right now as I write this, but we will get to that. I have a few pictures to share with you before that.

     The first photo is Ri Ri. She sleeps so soundly which is one of the reasons I knew she was deaf, or at least partially deaf. The Schnuggie would sleep like this as well. Nothing outside of physical touch can wake her.

     She is so adorable when she is sleeping, really anytime but especially when she is sleeping. Morty is the same way, but he is more comical, cause he has these odd poses that he gets into. I'll try to get some shots of that this week. He is a riot.

     Ok this next picture was just a really cool shot that I got from the fire pit this week. This one log did something really unusual where it burned from the bottom but then bored out a hole to the end of the remains of a branch, it was super cool. I risked melting my phone and burning my hand to get this shot. I had to get in real close even with zooming in, but here it is.

 

      I mean, come on, how cool is that? That shot in particular reminded me of something I always wanted to do. It's a weird thing, I've always said that I wanted to write like fire. What I mean by that is to start a story with no perceived notion, and just write with chaos and reckless abandon. Let the words fall where they may and see if it somehow makes sense in the end. I've never actually set out to try and do that, but then I got to thinking that this blog is kind of like that. Most times I have no idea where to start and where it's going to go each time. There is also no set ideal for how it's laid out. I have often times started something and then resisted it later on in the post, so I guess I unwittingly achieved that goal of writing like fire, just not in the way I had hoped to.

     Now for the very odd thing that is happening right now as I write this. When I wake up in the morning, after I've done all the Pokemon stuff, I catch up on some social media that happened over night. I follow some adult entertainers, and see what they post and on this day one posted a picture of themselves on the beach. It wasn't some glamours shot or anything like that, it was just a simple selfie with the shoreline in the background, so I hit the like on it. Shorty after doing that, I received a message from them. It was just a simple "hello" so I saw no harm in responding. Here is the thing, the way I look at social media, is a way to enjoy someone else's achievements, either through their posts, or seeing how they live. It is by no means a way for me to make connections, so I see celebrities and normal people I follow as a simple person on a screen that I enjoy seeing their posts. I would never reach out to them, because that isn't what I'm there to do. With that being said, the thought did go through my mind to not respond at all, but I did with a simply hello back. I expected nothing to come from that, but alas we are not having a very odd conversation, which I'm not at all positive that it isn't some hacker that took over her account. I'm keeping things very vague about myself, because if it is, I'm not getting taken. It has gotten somewhat personal though with her telling me about how someone tried scamming her for her money by taking advantage of her willingness to fall in love. Still that doesn't mean that it's really her. I guess I could ask for proof, but that would be kind of gauche, wouldn't it? It is just a very surreal experience for me.

     It's time for Favorite Song of the Week, and in honor of David Bowie's birthday which was yesterday I thought I would choose one of his songs. My all time favorite song of his is Golden Years, but I tend to gravitate to different songs from time to time, which is not difficult to do considering how many absolutely great songs that there are to choose from. This week I've been leaning towards one of the all time greats, but I wanted to choose a version of it that you may not have heard. This was the original US release, but was pulled shortly after it's first played to be replaced by the version we all know and love, but this version is simply amazing, so I give to you Mr. David Bowie with his all time classic "Rebel Revel" the US version.

     How good was that? It's getting to that time again, where I leave you for another week. I still have a few more days to myself. I haven't really changed much from what I normally do, since it will all go back to that starting Wednesday when I pick my mom up from the Hospice House. I did get to ride Saki yesterday and plan to do it again today. That was sorely missed. I'll try and get some pictures while I'm out on it today. I do have my appointment tomorrow morning to get my car worked on. They are doing three different things to it, and I have no idea how long I'll be there. One is to replace the fuel injectors and that just can't be a simply job, so I'm looking at several hours of just sitting around. I'm going to grab me a latte in the morning and see where the day takes me. Peace in and goodnight.

Year End Review

     Decided to write this a little later than I have been doing. New Year, new things am I right. I say later but it's only 9:30 in the morning, so still very early comparatively speaking in terms of when the majority of these posts have been actually written. Remember the days of me writing when I got home from drinking. I do, and although some would argue that that was when this blog was at it's best, I hated it. Anyway, it was quite a week, so I have a lot to share with you. The first will be my final accountability photos of 2021, which will also serve as my starting point for 2022. Here they are, in all their disgusting glory.

     Ok several things and where to begin. You can see that I've clearly fallen from when I was at my leanest, but I still see signs of heading back in the right direction. You can also see some dye left in the beard from my most recent venture in hair coloring. That was actually black, but it is very much a very dark shade of blue. I currently have the dye back in the beard and waiting for it to set while I'm writing this. Right now, it looks as black as my pants, but I know when I rinse it out, it will fade to kind of a denim blue. Really weird but I like it. I may just go back to that aquamarine again soon. That really stood out. Last but not least are my Crocs. I clearly have worn these to the bone. The color is fading considerably and although they are holding together quite nicely, it may be time for a new pair. I do have an all black lined pair, but those only see use when it's cold, and yes, these are basically my house shoes, so they don't actually see a lot of outside time. I think I'll hold out another month or so. I would really like to get a purple pair, but it seems that they are always sold out of the grape type color, and I don't need another pair of lined Crocs, so a month may be optimistic if I want to hold out for the purple ones.

     Tuesday I woke up at 3 like I normally do, got dressed and got Morty to come along with me (Ri Ri was fast asleep and I didn't want to wake her). As we walked out into the utility room on our way through the garage, I heard a dripping coming from the hot water heater. I broke out the light on my phone and looked around. It was definitely the hot water heater, but I could not for the life of my find where it was coming from, so I ran outside and turned the main for the water off to the house. The dripping had stopped, so crisis temporarily averted. Morty and I went out to spin some Pokestops. I came back and looked more for the leak but since the water wasn't on I couldn't find it at all. I did have to turn the water back on briefly for my mom, and that's when I saw it. The leak was in the pressure safety tank, which is a small tank that sits above and separate from the water heater for overflow when pressure is too high. I did some looking and I could have simply replaced it myself, but since the water heater is a rental, I had to call and have it taken care of. The originally gave me an appointment for Wednesday in the afternoon, so I had to devise a plan of action. I could keep the water off, but the nurse was coming to help bath my mom, so I would have to figure out a way to have the water on, and not create a disaster area. I ran out to Lowe's and bought a shop vac. I went for the 12 gallon one since I could turn the water on, then the vac and not worry at all about having it on for an hour. Hindsight being what it is, I could have gotten away with the smaller 5 gallon one, because they rescheduled the appointment for later that day, and the nurse showed up late right when the new water heater was being installed. Oh yeah, since the water heater was over 6 years old, they had to replace the whole thing. Disaster managed, and I now have a really sweet 12 gallon shop vac. If anyone has some water disasters, I got your back.

     Ok, this is the part of the blog you may want to skip, cause I'm going to be talking about Pokemon. Ok, for the players of the game this is some interesting stuff. You know about shinies, and you know about hundos, but there are a few others that you may not have heard of like; shundos (shiny hundos), Shluckies (lucky shinies, only can be gotten in lucky trades), and shlundos (lucky shiny hundos, I still don't have one of those). The last one and there are even a few more terms, but this is the funnest one for me, is the nundo. A nundo is a pokemon with absolutely no bars or stars. For instance, this is what a hundo looks like when you pull up the appraisal.

     That is my best buddy hundo Snorlax, which I named Fourlax. As you can see all the bars and stars are full and the insignia with the stars is red. Here is my nundo Smeargle to show you the difference between a 4 and a 3 star. 

     As you can see, that there are no bars, no stars and the insignia is orange. Now hundos and shinies are rare in the game but even more rare are the nundos, so I save every one that I get and give them fun related names. Here are all my nundos to date. 

    I have since this photo changed the name or my smearlge to Snungle. Jack Zero was a recommendation from a friend for the Spearow. It's a play on Jack Sparrow. You can see that I have 8 of those, in comparison I have over 200 shinies, and 41 hundos.  Collection odd ball Pokemon like nundos are part of the fun of the game, so make sure you save those nundos. Ok, that's my Pokemon talk for the day.

     Ok, finally pic of the day, because Ri Ri can't be too far away from me at any point in time. Her she is laying at the foot of my chair.

    She is such a sweet girl, I still have no idea why she is so violent towards new people. It bothers me, but until I can figure it all out, I keep her outside when the nurses come. Morty on the other hand is everyones best friend, so he gets to stay inside from time to time.

    Last I'm just going to do a best of the year round up. I don't think I've ever done this before, so instead of Favorite Song of the Week, these are my Favorite Things of the Year. First off is my album of the year which goes to Halsey with her album If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power.  I absolutely love this album, Produced and engineered by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, it's like Nine Inch Nails was fronted by Halsey and it's everything you ever wanted to hear.

     My movie of the year is going to have to go to Encanto. I really don't remember all the movies I watched this year, and that one is definitely stuck in my head right now. It's a fun animated film set somewhere in South America. It's colorful, heartwarming and delightful, make sure you check it out.

     Favorite show of the year is a tough one. Once again, I don't remember what shows I've watched. There were several Korean shows on Netflix that I thoroughly enjoyed so let's just make Squid Game the favorite show. I'm sure everyone has seen, or at the very least heard of it. If you haven't seen it, definitely do, and if you have seen it, a second season is coming. I just don't know when. 

    Ok, that's me year end review. I've already done a 24 hour fast this year, and plan one for tomorrow, leading to me free week. I am a bit concerned though, because they told me they would confirm that my mom was going to be admitted to that hospice house for a few days, but I haven't heard from anyone, and I'm not really sure who to call. The social worker is supposed to be the one for this, but the guy that is assigned to my mom was on vacation or still is and the one that made the appointment was a temp in his place till he was back. I'm going to wait until Tuesday and then call to see what is happening with that. It's starting to look like I may not get those days to myself in which case my car appointment is doomed. I'll of course let you know how everything goes on Sunday. Oh, once last thing. Friday which is the day I'm supposed to take my mom to the hospice house is also the five year anniversary of my last drink. If I get to drop my mom off, I'm going to celebrate by getting a latte and going to the record store. I know, not really adventurous but that's who I am now. Peace in and goodnight.